Bound in Chains
by SangEtOr
Summary: It was the chains that always frightened me the most. Not the dirt and grime caked on their perfect faces, nor the way their very existence threatened my life. Not even the burning hatred that shone in their eyes. No, I feared the chains that bound them.
1. Chapter 1

BPOV

It was the chains that always frightened me the most. Not the dirt and grime caked on their perfect faces, nor the knowledge that at any moment they could strike and would gladly kill me, nor the bloodlust, fear, and hatred that shone in their eyes; it was always the chains that held my gaze.

"Happy birthday!" my mother exclaimed, gesturing towards the frightening creature before me. He was clean, at least, but he was barely clothed, wearing crude cloth trousers that appeared to have been torn off around his knees.

"Mother, I told you I didn't want one." I whispered, trying not to seem too graceless.

"Now Bella," my father intervened, "Your mother and I know that you're a little apprehensive, but they're really quite popular, perhaps it'll grow on you. They're extremely useful to have around, and especially with…" my father trailed off with a mischievous smile, obviously having let on something I was not meant to know.

"Especially with what?" I asked

"Well, I guess now is as good a time as any!" My mother practically squealed. Despite her ladylike grace befitting one of her position, she had always been easily excitable. "You're eighteen now, and, well, your father and I feel that it's time you were given some independence, so… you're welcome to move into the West guest house, if you'd like."

I have always been one to maintain my composure, but honestly, I could have squealed with delight. The West guest house held our library, in which I had spent most of my days pouring over the books. Of course, as it was a guest house, I could not spend as much time as I would have liked, but now I would have it to myself and it would be wonderful. I had had no desire to move away from my parents' estate after returning from the Academy, but the prospect of living on my own and being treated as more of an adult, without having to leave the comfort of home was so exciting that I almost forgot about the topaz eyes that followed my movements.

"I can't thank you enough!" I exclaimed, embracing each of my parents, "But I really don't need a vampire."

"Don't be silly," my mother said smiling, "I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with him." She winked before leaning in to whisper in my ear, "Besides, do you have any idea how long it took us to track down a male, virgin, vampire?"

I gasped, looking at my mother's sly smile. I had so hoped that the gift was meant solely for such work as would be necessary in a home unfit for a lady to perform. I realized I was sadly mistaken, and chastised myself for forgetting that any yard work or manual labor that I would need done would still be taken care of by my parents' grounds staff. This vampire was meant for the same terrible purposes I had always heard about: violence and sex.

"We'll have him taken to your new room. Alice and Angela will be moving with you, of course. You'll find it's all been taken care of." My mother assured me. "Now, let's get back to your party!"

She took my arm and I reluctantly followed her back into the banquet hall to meet my guests. Most of them were my father's business associates and their families, but there were a few faces that I was happy to see. Jacob stood beside his father, whose spine had been recently repaired with a new drug derived from vampire venom, holding a glass of champagne and chatting lightly with a couple I did not recognize. When he saw me, his eyes lit up, and he excused himself from his conversation. We walked towards each other as quickly as proper etiquette would allow and embraced each other fondly.

"Congratulations, Bella! Your dad told mine you'd be moving out! I can't wait to see your new place!" Jacob beamed. I smiled at his colloquial speech, and easy smile. That was something I loved about Jacob. Although his family was of no lower social standing than mine, he was always able to keep his easy going and relaxed demeanor. When it mattered, he could be the pinnacle of propriety, but with me he was always so warm. In all the pomp and circumstance of events such as this, where laughing too loudly was a criminal offence, and everyone's small talk had a certain chill, Jacob was my personal sun.

"And I can't wait to have you over to see it! It will seem so big and empty now… but I think it will be nice to start off on my own." I said honestly.

"Hey," Jacob leaned in and whispered, "Is it true that your parents put you in charge of sector nine?"

"Where did you hear that?" I asked nervously. My father hadn't yet made the press release about my new job, and he'd asked me not to mention it until then.

"It's just a rumor going around. Holy shit, it is true, isn't it?"

"Jacob!" I said sternly, "This is hardly the time or place for that kind of language!"

"Of course you're right," He said, annoyed, "My deepest apologies Miss Isabella. It was not my place to speak as such in front of a lady." He used the slight southern accent that usually only slipped through when he was distracted or trying to prove himself a gentleman. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, come on. You know you don't have to do that with me… just, what if someone overheard?" I said, embarrassed.

"Alright, alright. But seriously though, can you blame me?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

I laughed nervously, trying to sound nonchalant as I said, "It's not as if it's breaking news."

Jacob looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "Not breaking news? Are you kidding me? Man! I wish I was in the kind of position that managing 23 billion dollars worth of industry was 'not breaking news!' I mean, come on! This is kind of a big deal, even for you."

"I know, I know." I said in an urgent whisper, trying to quiet him, "But I'm not supposed to be drawing attention to it until after the press conference."

"Fine." Jacob sighed, gesturing that his lips were sealed. "But we'll talk about this later." He slipped away into the crowd just as dinner was announced to be served. I made light conversation with those around me over the next seven courses, and excused myself as soon as etiquette allowed.

As I made my way towards my new home in the West building, I considered what would await me there. I knew that my belongings would all have been transferred to my new bedroom over the course of the party. Alice and Angela, my ladies in waiting, would of course be joining me at my new abode. Presumably my driver would have been informed of my move, and would be ready for me in the morning, and a cook would have been either hired or transferred from the main house to my new residence, though perhaps I would have to hire my own cook. When I entered, I quickly checked the kitchen and found that there was no one there waiting to make me my evening tea. Rather than disappointed, I was invigorated at my first task as owner of my new home. I contemplated where one would look to find a cook, realizing that I had never bothered to ask about the process of acquiring staff before now. Despite my extensive experience in the family business, I had never taken much interest in the managing of our household. I was beginning to think that this experience would be even more beneficial than I had anticipated.

But back to the subject of my cook conundrum, despite the fact that I was fully capable of making my own evening tea, I knew for a fact that if my mother ever found out that I'd made it myself, she would have a heart attack. I wondered if this was what my father had meant when he said that my gift would come in handy. This seemed silly though. Everyone knew that vampires didn't eat, it stood to reason that they wouldn't know how to cook. Still, this one might have been taught. I had no idea what his background was like.

Vampires had been slaves almost ever since they came out of the coffin. First they tried to blend with us. A great number of them had taken to drinking animal blood, and thus sought to join our society. Shortly after, synthetic blood was developed as it eased the bloodlust so many of them still felt drinking animal blood. It was only a few months before things began to change. Sangenite was discovered: a metallic alloy used to control the vampires. It was initially used only for law enforcement purposes, but it soon became the weapon of choice for any and all slave owners in the western world. The Sangenite burns them like acid, and makes them vulnerable. That is the only way that they can be controlled, and enslaved. It has always been the Sangenite chains that frightened me the most about vampires.

I had grown up with servants, whom I had been taught were somehow beneath me. I never really accepted this, as Alice and Angela were two of my very best friends. They were not any less of people, they were just unlucky people. That is to say, less lucky than I happened to be, as the daughter of one of the most wealthy and influential businessmen of the century. Still, this was only their job. If they were unhappy, there was always the understanding that they could leave at any time. I did not know exactly how much we paid our wait staff, but I knew that it was a fair amount more than they would get working the same job for most families. My father is a generous man, and he has much more respect for the working class than most of his affiliates. The servants had little cause to want to leave, but if they wished to, they were always free to do so.

This was not true for a vampire. This person up in my room… no, not person, I corrected myself, vampire. My mother had taught me from a young age that vampires were not people, that they were savage animals that hated humans and wanted nothing more than to suck our blood and kill us. Still, it seemed to me that if someone put me in chains that burned me like acid, beat me with clubs of the same material, and used me as a slave for both labor and pleasure, that I would be quite tempted to hat those people too. Regardless, this vampire up in my room was in horrible, metallic, terrifying chains, and he could not leave. He was held here against his will, and that frightened me.

I opened the door of my new bedroom slowly, and was surprised to find it empty. My eyes combed over the extravagant king sized four poster bed with the golden lace duvet and sheer gold curtains hung around it tied back with white ribbons. My gaze passed to my vanity, complete with makeup that I seldom wore, despite my mother's insistence, and trinkets from my parents and friends exactly as I'd left them in my previous room. In fact, this room had been set up as a virtually identical replica of my old room, with only two differences that I noticed. The first was that this room was noticeably larger than my old room, with an en suite bathroom full of marble and gold. The second was a door in the corner, presumably a closet of some description, that seemed superfluous with my walk-in closed adjacent to it, and of course my ladies in waiting to choose my clothes and dress me. I approached the door slowly, about to open it out of curiosity, when I heard a footstep behind me.

A door creaked and I watched as a large shadow crept up the door in front of me. A hand touched my shoulder and I screamed.

"Bella! Bella, calm down, it's just me!" Alice soothed, surprised at my outburst. As was I, to be completely honest. I had no idea why I was so jumpy all of a sudden. It probably had to do with the fact that I was virtually alone in my new house. Only my two servants, and my vampire were here to accompany me, a stark contrast to the thirty or so inhabitants of the main house.

"Sorry, Alice, I don't know what got into me tonight." I said, blushing, as always.

"Don't worry Bella, I just came to help you into your nightgown. I must admit, it's kind of nice to be off on our own don't you think?" She asked cheerfully, having my corset unlaced before I even knew what she was doing.

"Yeah. I can't wait to get my hands on all those books!" Alice laughed at me in reply an proceeded to help me out of my dress, which was a huge and difficult mess. It was at times like these that I couldn't help but miss the time before the Great Nostalgia when people wore sensible clothes. What I wouldn't give to be able to wear my old sweater and blue jeans again. Of course, I would be all but lynched if I was seen wearing such a thing in public these days. Another renaissance, a rerenaissance, as it were, had come about in the United States since the vampires had exposed themselves. It seemed that the country as a whole was having difficulty coping with change. Fashions and trends of everything from clothing to architecture seemed to revert to a time before our modern technology and our modern understanding of the world. Although both of these continued to progress, and technology was driving the economy more than ever, aesthetically at least, Americans seemed to yearn for the good old days of our civilization. I had heard that the dress code was still quite liberal in Canada, and I had often considered a vacation, just to be able to wear my old sweatpants again. I never really bothered to follow through, though.

"Did you hear me, Bella?" Alice asked, as I realized she had gotten me down to my underwear.

"Oh, no, sorry. I guess I kind of spaced out, what did you say?" I asked, embarrassed and blushing, but enjoying being able to use slang without disapproving looks.

"I said that it's nice not to always have to look over my shoulder for your mother when I don't call you 'Miss Isabella.'" She said smiling.

I pulled a face in response to the title that my mother always insisted upon for the sake of propriety. I was struck by the irony that she was so hell bent on propriety and yet gave me a living sex toy for my birthday. Not that I was likely to use him for that. I wasn't quite so old fashioned as to wait for marriage, but I certainly intended to be in love when I lost my virginity.

Reminded of the vampire that was supposed to be in my room, I decided to ask Alice, "By the way… my mother told me that my… umm… gift would be waiting in my room?"

Alice giggled, inferring a meaning that I hadn't intended before saying, "Oh, he is."

I looked around me, confused, and she giggled again.

"He's in his room. You see the door in the corner?" She gestured to the unnecessary closet as she helped me into my black satin nightgown and began pulling bobby pins out of my hair and letting it fall around my shoulders.

"Yes?"

"That's where he sleeps." She replied.

"Oh. Has he already taken the pills then?" I asked, knowing that vampires didn't sleep naturally. Still, they were expected to take pills that sedated them during the night for the safety of their masters.

"I expect so, but you could wake him, if you wanted." She said, winking.

"Oh… but… well, wouldn't he be still sleepy? You know… from the sedatives?" I asked, blushing.

"They're not like humans, Bella. The sedatives put them out so that they can't wake themselves, but you can wake him up whenever you'd like, and he'll be completely alert and _ready._" She said suggestively, and I blushed even redder than before.

"Thank you, Alice." I said as she removed the last piece of metal from my hair.

"You're more than welcome," Alice replied, feigning an exaggerated yawn, "I think I'll be off to bed now… in my room… _three floors away_, so… don't worry about any… _disturbances_ or anything!" She giggles before dancing out of the room like the pixie that I'm convinced she secretly is.

She closed the door, and I turned towards the closet door. Cautiously I opened it, not sure what I expected to find, but what I saw was not it.

The vampire, only a boy, looked to be about my age. I reminded myself that he was probably hundreds of years old, but he still looked so young. There were Sangenite chains in the corner, with shackles for his wrists and ankles, but he was not currently bound. He lay on the floor on what looked like a dog bed, curled up in the fetal position. He had bronze hair that was terribly disheveled, but handsome as it fell on his beautiful face. Of course, I knew, that all vampires were beautiful, but he was so breathtaking with his sharp, angular features, relaxed in such a peaceful expression. My eyes raked over his muscular chest, which would put Michelangelo's David to shame, but I was too quickly distracted by the painful looking burns that spotted it. These burns made me feel uncomfortable for some reason, so I looked away.

There was a small sink in the corner with a toothbrush on it, and, I noticed, my favorite brand of toothpaste. There were also several small cardboard boxes. Curious, and knowing that he could not wake up, I stepped over him to the sink to examine the boxes. I soon realized that there were only two types of pills, but there were several boxes of each. One was the night pills. It had instructions for use, and warnings that they could cause nightmares, dizziness, vomiting, and haemolacria, whatever that is. The other appeared to be a kind of sterilization pill for vampires. They were to be taken before intimacy with a human so that they would not get pregnant. I vaguely wondered what a half vampire baby would be like, but quickly dismissed the thought. I began to feel guilty for invading the vampires privacy, although the concept of a vampire needing privacy seemed silly, and turned to creep out of his room. As I opened the door, however, I froze, because it made a sound.

It was just a small sound, and I relaxed, realizing it was probably just talking in its sleep. Suddenly, it began to yell. First it was just screams, it sounded like it was scared or in pain, and I almost screamed with it, I was so frightened.

"No! No! Please! Have mercy! Please! Please!" It screamed, and my heart wrenched for the poor thing. Without thinking, I rushed over, kneeling next to him and shook him lightly by the shoulders.

"Wake up. Wake up, it's okay, it's just a dream. Shhhh… it's okay. It's just a dream." I whispered, as the screaming quieted and ceased. Suddenly, the boy tensed next to me, going completely still, not even breathing. Then, faster than I could register, the beautiful vampire boy was across the room, with his back against the wall crouched down in an aggressive looking posture. My breath caught in my throat as the most terrifying snarl I had ever heard escaped from his lips.

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	2. Chapter 2

So, I guess it's author's note time. I would like to inform my wonderful readers that I will do my best to update this every week at least. The first few chapters are just pouring out of me, but I don't expect the daily production to last. Still, I will try my best to stick to my weekly deadline. Thank you!

-Sang et Or

EPOV

A ferocious snarl erupted from my lips before I had the sense to quell it. I stared at her, the young girl that now owned me, across my tiny room. She was wearing only her black satin nightgown that covered very little of her legs or her chest. Her wavy brown hair fell around her shoulders lightly and her deep brown eyes stared up at me in fear. She knelt just inches away from where I had just been asleep, and my brain, still recovering from the vicious nightmare that had just held me, struggled to make sense of the situation. Slowly, my face began to mirror hers, as I realized the potential consequences for what I had just done. Carefully, I relaxed from my crouch and stood straight up into a more human position. I put my hands behind my back slowly to show her that I did not mean her physical harm, and hoped that I would not be disciplined.

"I'm sorry, Miss." I said, slowly and carefully. My voice seemed to break her out of her trance, and her face composed itself. I listened for a way to appeal to her wishes, for the voice of desires, fears, and fantasies that all others speak to me through their minds to try to avoid punishment, but her mind was surprisingly silent. Her mind had most likely stalled like an engine from the surprise at my previous action.

"Oh… that's alright." She said, rather breathily, probably from the shock of just being snarled at by a vampire. As she slowly raised herself to her feet, I wondered why she had woken me up. Her mind remained mute, so I was about to ask her when she spoke.

"Umm… I'm Bella. What's your name?" She spoke quietly, and her eyes never left mine. This confused me greatly, as I realized that in order to put together a sentence, even one as simple and elementary as that, would require some form of thought process that I had been unable to hear. As an afterthought, I realized that it had been a very long time since I had been called anything other than "boy," "vampire," or "you."

"My name is Edward." I said, still assessing the silent creature that stood before me.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance." She said. I assumed that this was simply out of habit, as she lifted her right hand as if to shake mine, but thought better of it.

There was an uncomfortable silence as I waited for her to make her demands, or to reach for a Sangenite club, or anything really. She just stood there, staring at me in a way that seemed familiar, but I could not find the word for it. My inability to read human facial expressions was forcefully brought to my attention as I realized I had never needed to do so before. In fact, I had never even tried. This mental mute vexed me, and promised to be a dangerous mistress, as I could in no way foresee her wishes as I had with those who corralled us at the market.

"Was there a reason that you woke me, Miss Bella?" I asked, after what seemed like an eternity. I reminded myself that humans require far more time to process than vampires. The twenty three seconds of discomfort that I endured probably felt like nothing to her.

"Yes." She said simply, appearing very distracted by my face. I had to physically stop myself from sighing in exasperation. Humans found us beautiful, I knew, but this one seemed especially susceptible to my allure, and it was incredibly frustrating not to know what she wanted, or why she was in my pathetic excuse for a bedroom. I looked at her expectantly, and she finally seemed to regain conscious control of herself. "You don't remember?" She asked curiously.

"Remember what?" I began, quickly replaying the last few minutes in my head. Then I remembered the Night Terror. My brothers at the market who had served humans before warned me of the effects of the pills. They had told me that they gave some of us the most horrific nightmares, and I must say that I concur. The face of the Warden had hung before me in the sky like that of a God, enraged at the sins of his creations. I was bound in Sangenite chains that seared my wrists with a fire hotter than a thousand suns. I was suspended above a pit of silver, bubbling, churning liquid, that gurgled and popped, tiny droplets flying up to singe my ankles. The vile droplets burned and bore into my flesh like fiery ticks, burrowing ever deeper. I realized it was molten Sangenite, and that I was in Hell. I was going to burn, scald, and disintegrate in the Lake of Fire that lay beneath me as punishment for the monster that I was. I curled myself up, trying to keep my feet from the second death below me, but my chains were slowly lowering. The face of the Warden lit up with vicious delight, and he laughed the most fearsome deafening roar as my toes touched the liquid, even with my knees held up to my chest. I screamed my fear and agony, but this only fueled the Warden's hateful laughter. The liquid had consumed up to my ankles when cool soft arms had reached around my shoulders and pulled me from that reality. The Warden continued to laugh as the scene in front of me distorted and stretched away, like the sky had been snatched in the middle, and ripped off its hinges away from me. I shut my eyes, for fear of being sucked away with the world, and when I opened them, I was in my bedroom, in the arms of the strange fragile creature that now stood before me.

It took only a fraction of a second for me to relive the Night Terror, before she replied, "You were crying out… screaming in your sleep. I thought you were having a bad dream, so…" She trailed off, clearly unsure of what to say next. She seemed uncomfortable having done even a minute kindness for a vampire, or perhaps she was simply still frightened of me. It was annoying not to be sure.

"I apologize if I woke you Miss Bella. Do you wish for me to take another pill?" I asked, trying to mask the terror that I felt at the prospect of returning to that hell.

"No! Well… ummm… I mean… Do you think it would happen again?" She asked, appearing flustered.

"I apologize once again, Miss Bella, but I cannot control any sounds I may make during the slumber." I said darkly.

She blushed, looking ashamed. I noticed that the red that colored her cheeks looked both delectable and adorable, though I quickly dismissed the thought. She was a human, and one that owned me in addition. She was to be loathed along with the rest of her miserable race. She must be loathed because of her ignorance of her own fortune, fortune that ought to have still been mine. She had no idea what any one of us would give to be human again… nor had she any idea what it was like to be vampire: to be hated and used and abused. She was one of the ones that hated and used and abused us. For that she must be loathed.

"That's not what I meant." She whispered, looking back up at me. "You seemed… very frightened. Do you think that you would have a dream like that again?" Who was this creature? Why would she ask me such a thing, and _why_ could I not hear what she was thinking?

"I don't know." I replied honestly, figuring I had nothing to gain from lying. There was a brief silence as she appeared to consider what to do next.

"What does it feel like?" She asked suddenly, taking me by surprise, though it is not easy to take a vampire by surprise.

"What?" I asked thickly, as a knee jerk response to her outburst.

"The slumber. You know… because you don't really sleep. Is it like being on drugs? Do you feel trapped, is that why it's scary?" She looked at me with wide eyes like a child looking at an insect. She was curious, and innocent enough, but disturbingly wanton and unaffected by the horrors of which she spoke.

"No. I do not feel trapped precisely. It is the images that I see… the situations that I feel within the slumber that are… unpleasant. It may feel similarly to the way you might were you on drugs. I would not know. I did not do drugs in my human life." I wondered vaguely why I was sharing this information with her. It certainly wasn't any of her business. Her gleaming brown eyes compelled me, though, and I justified that there was no harm in giving her what she wanted, and it would most likely save me from beatings if I did. "I do not remember sleep very well, but I don't believe that the slumber is much akin to human sleep. I feel fully alert and awake, only, within a reality that is not this one." I stared at her as she processed this information and looked back at me.

"Have you taken the pills before?" She asked, with a little more confidence now. I was not sure if I liked the fact that she appeared to be getting more comfortable with me.

"No." I said simply, but she looked dissatisfied with the brevity of my response. "It was too expensive, and unnecessary to provide us all with pills at the market. They simply kept us chained up at night, and during the day." I tried not to notice how my voice cracked over the word "chained," but it did not escape her attention.

"Do they hurt?" She asked, glancing over at the shackles in the corner. I looked back at them too, before responding.

"Unbelievably."

For the tiniest moment, her eyes seemed to turn sad, and she looked away. Turning towards the door, her satin nightgown reflected what little light there was in the tiny room, and she took a step to leave. Remembering my purpose in this tiny room, which was albeit larger and decidedly cleaner that where I was kept at the market, I took a small step to follow her.

"Would you like me to accompany you, Miss Bella?" She turned to me confused, and I couldn't help but smirk as understanding slowly dawned on her and spread across her face. I had to admit that when it came to work as a pleasure slave, there were certainly less appealing mistresses I could have had.

"No, thank you, Edward." She said, blushing furiously. "Your… services… will not be necessary tonight." I felt inexplicably disappointed at her response, as I had not desired human contact in the better part of 80 years. I also noticed that I enjoyed the way blood pooled in her face when she was embarrassed. It indicated her feelings to me, as her silent mind did not, and I found that the color was somewhat aesthetically pleasing. Remembering her fascination with my face earlier, I wondered why she declined. Furthermore remembering that I was wearing only tattered cloth shorts, I wondered if she found the rest of my body unappealing.

"Do you wish for me to take another pill, Miss Bella?" I asked.

"You don't have to," She replied, "If it will be unpleasant for you."

I swallowed nervously, "Are you going to have me chained up?" She looked back at me quickly, with what looked like anger on her pretty face before saying, "Of course not." Rather aggressively.

"Do you not fear for your safety?" I asked, a malevolent smile sneaking onto my lips.

"Not particularly. You are not as frightening as I had thought you'd be." She said with a shy smile.

"Perhaps it is part of a ruse, to lull you into a false sense of security." I suggested, not entirely sure why I was playing with this human creature.

"Then you gamble with your future, Edward." She said, turning to walk out again. My stomach turned in a foreign manner as she spoke my name. I watched intently as she stepped carefully out of my tiny room and turned back to face me. Peering back in with one eye as she closed the door, she whispered, "I'm sure you know the penalty for killing a human."

I listened through the door as she made her way towards her luxurious bed. I heard her sigh through the rustling of cotton as she climbed into the place that she would rest.

Over and over again I replayed my first conversation with Bella in my head while I deliberated taking another pill. On the one hand, I had no idea if the pill would bring about another Night Terror. Presumably not all vampires suffered them, or at least not every night. If they did, their humans would never get any sleep through their screaming and moaning. Conversely, the prospect of suffering that agonizing death again, trapped within my own head was mortifying. I was not sure I had the courage to swallow that terrible pill.

Bella. Bella. Bella. I rolled the name over my tongue almost silently, just loud enough for me to hear myself. It felt pleasant to me, and sounded nice to my ears that were all too used to screaming commands and insults. I realized bitterly that this was perhaps the longest that I had ever gone without being struck by the horrifying Sangenite clubs that the guards at the market always carried. The men and women at the market were so unlike those that I had found here. Not to say that the humans I had interacted with at the Swan Estate were friendly exactly, but they did not seem to take as much pleasure in my senseless torture as those at the market.

I wondered if I would be lonely here. I remember aching for solitude as I was packed into a room smaller than the one in which I currently resided, with three or four other vampires. I was tormented by their tragic, depressing, furious, and vengeful thoughts. Since vampires do not produce waste or sweat or require rest as humans do, it was considered acceptable to pack us into tiny rooms for storage. We needed nothing but the artificial blood that they fed us. Some longed for human blood, not because of the thirst, as this was quelled by the synthetic blood, but for the flavor and the freedom. Synthetic blood was metallic and empty; it had very little taste at all. I suppose it would be similar to hard water for a human: mostly tasteless, but with a strange unnatural tang of minerals in the aftertaste. It was worse, however, because it dulled the senses. This was perhaps one of the ways it quelled our bloodlust, making humans smell less appealing because we simply could not smell as well.

I longed for animal blood. I have little memory of my human life… it was so long ago, and the memories are murky and dark, like watching them on a television set submerged in a scummy pond. Still, I remember the Great War. I remember, before I was inflicted by the Spanish Influenza, before I was turned, and long before I was captured and enslaved, that I killed a man. I remember the look in his eyes as I pulled the stiff trigger of the reliable Lee-Enfield rifle that we were all issued and the bullet buried itself deep in his chest. I remember his tears and his sick, spluttering, heaving breaths as his eyes glazed over and he choked on his own blood. I have killed men since this soldier, whose name I never learned, after my first death. I have killed many humans and sucked them dry of every drop of blood in their bodies. When I am in the frenzy, I have no remorse, only hunger. Only thirst. After they are dead, and I regain control of myself, however, I look at their faces and I always see the tragic young man from the trenches. I am certain he was younger than me. Only a boy, perhaps fifteen. His face haunts me.

I never wanted to be a monster. Carlisle… my maker… my… father. He taught me to respect human life again after I'd been changed. He helped me see that I could still choose the way I wanted to live, even with the curses that had been bestowed on me. I never blamed Carlisle for what I am. He was lonely. I understood that. He was lonely and he thought he was saving me. Until my capture and enslavement, I might have even agreed with him. I still don't blame him; I just don't think he's right anymore. I hope that he's alright. I don't believe that he was captured the day that I was. We had been in hiding since the changes began in human civilization. I hope that he is still free somewhere.

For perhaps the billionth time since I had first been struck by a Sangenite club, I wished that things could just go back to the way they were. I could go back to my old self-loathing. It was easier then, when I was alone in that. Now the entire human race shared my hatred for myself and my kind, and in this particular case, misery does not in fact love company. The vampire condition, much like the human condition, was difficult to explain and even more difficult to endure. I longed for the time when I endured it in peace. I longed for the time that I did not resent humans for their actions, but merely envied them.

Grudgingly, I decided that it would be in my best interests to try the pill once more. The human, Bella, appeared undisturbed by my waking her, and I hoped that should the Night Terror descend once more upon my slumber, that her patience too would return. As I carefully lay down so that I would not collapse from the sedative, I took the pill. The slumber sneaks up, and can be dangerous for one standing when swallowing the wretched little pill. As I swallowed it thickly, I longed for a simpler time that I would surely never see again.

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	3. Chapter 3

So... looks like it's author's note / desperate groveling and apologizing time. You cannot know how sorry I really am that I left this for so long. I know it's been forever and I know that the whole plan to "update every week" totally crashed and burned. Real life gets in the way, as I'm sure you all know. As does something that's not quite real life, but resembles it greatly. This thing is called University and too often does it usurp my time. Regardless, you have my eternal remorse and undying gratitude for those of you who stuck with this story even through the great update droughts. The weekly updates were far too ambitious, but fear not. I will continue this story. Updates may be fairly sporadic, but they will occur. Thanks again to everyone still reading! Ever with love.

-Sang Et Or

BPOV

After closing the door of the tiny closet bedroom that Edward, my vampire, now inhabited, I turned to my luxurious bed and sighed. Somehow I was even less comfortable with having a slave living adjacent to my room after my conversation with him. It was frightening. I was terrified, not just because he was so fast, nor because of the look of hatred that he sported as he looked at me. The most mortifying thing of all was how very human he seemed when he spoke. I had never actually met a vampire before Edward. I had seen them in the streets… in the markets… on television even, but never had I spoken to one. They were dirty and vicious and terrifying… Edward was not. I must admit, it was far easier to consider them subhuman life forms before I actually interacted with a vampire. My stomach churned with confusion and guilt, as well as shame and disgust at my pity, sympathy, and perhaps even empathy for a vampire. They were not people. I knew this.

Still… he did not seem like a monster.

Giving up on my moral dilemma for the night, I dragged myself lethargically into my bed and wriggled around until I found a comfortable position. I took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm my nerves and embrace the fatigue that threatened to wash over me. Troubled by dreams of wolves, cloaks, and chains, I tossed and turned until dawn.

Waking up was quite pleasant in my new room, as the large and luxurious windows faced West, so I was not assaulted by the sun's rays as it broke the horizon. Instead I was woken by the indirect glow of sunlight bouncing off the pond and the lawn and the forest that stretched out beyond my sight. Only slightly fatigued I pulled myself out of bed and called for Alice to dress me. She danced into the room in her usual manner, and she chattered to me lightly about a young man who worked for my father. His name was Jasper, and I cannot honestly say that I remembered him, but Alice seemed quite taken by the boy.

Once dressed and ready to start my day, I came downstairs, preparing to make myself some manner of breakfast and then commence my task of finding myself I cook. I was very surprised, therefore, when I walked right into something fleshy and warm that should not have been in my kitchen.

"Oof," I said gracelessly as I made impact with someone's chest.

"Oh, my deepest apologies, Miss Swan," Came a young man's voice from just a little above my head. "Was there something that you needed?"

The boy looked to be little older than me, and he was wearing a white chef's uniform. His right eyebrow was raised quizzically, no doubt wondering why the lady of the house was making her way into the kitchen, of all places, at this time of day.

"Yes, well… umm…" I stuttered nervously. As much as my mother had tried to train it out of me, I was still painfully shy, especially in such an awkward situation as this. "I was not, umm… aware that there was a chef working yet, so… I was going to get some breakfast." I forced out, trying not to stare at my hands. It was a perfectly understandable situation, in my opinion, but it was not proper for me to be in the kitchen under usual circumstances and this boy had caught me. I resented him for causing me this much unnecessary discomfort.

He laughed lightly, and I felt a little less uneasy, an effect that only became stronger as I looked up at his face. His blonde hair and blue eyes were quite adorable, and his eager smile made him look considerably like a golden retriever.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself," He said, smiling merrily, "My name is Michael Newton. Mrs. Swan appointed me as chef of the West building starting today. Your breakfast is ready for you on the verandah at your leisure."

Looking into those sparkling blue eyes I couldn't help smiling back at him. He was like a toddler, showing off his latest Lego masterpiece. His happiness was infectious, and I was fairly certain I would enjoy having him as my chef. "Thank you." I said simply, before excusing myself to enjoy my cinnamon buns and coffee as I watched the sun continue to rise.

It was almost nine o'clock when I realized that I was forgetting something.

I almost choked on my coffee as my pleasantly idle thoughts suddenly lurched to my vampire, Edward, who may or may not have been still asleep in his cupboard-like little room. My mind raced, realizing that if he had, in fact, taken another night pill, that he would be unable to wake himself, and that if he had not, I had absolutely no idea where he was or what he was up to. I briefly wondered what in the world a vampire would have any inclination to be up to during the day whilst unsupervised, but my depressingly inactive imagination provided no answers.

I took a most unladylike gulp of what was left of my coffee and hurried back inside and up to my room. I stepped cautiously towards Edward's cupboard, knocking on the door gently. I wasn't sure whether I was expecting an answer or not.

"Edward?" I all but whispered tentatively.

"Yes, miss Bella?" Came a voice from behind me. I screamed momentarily in response, as well as jumping about ten feet in the air and inventing several new shades of red with my blush.

Immediately flustered and uncomfortable, I turned to face my vampire's blazing topaz eyes. They flashed with curiosity and amusement, the hatred that they held last night momentarily forgotten. Inexplicably, my heart spluttered at his proximity. In my inability to fill the conversational void that my nerves left, a silence blossomed. In that moment, completely lost in his eyes, I briefly considered one of the uses of my vampire. As soon as I caught myself having this thought however, I cleared my throat and, still blushing, took a step back.

"Oh, umm, yes. I was just coming to wake you. I didn't know if you'd taken the pill or not."

"Was there something you wanted?" he asked, ignoring the question that I thought I implied.

"No… I guess there wasn't." I replied awkwardly, noticing that his eyes remained fixed on my lips as I spoke. I instinctively ran a finger across them, checking for remnants of my breakfast. He quirked an eyebrow at me, but didn't speak.

"What are you thinking about?" I blurted out, before I had the sense to control myself.

The look on his face reminded me of cartoon characters that had been hit in the face with a frying pan.

"What makes you think I even have coherent thoughts?" He asked bitterly. This threw me off guard.

"Umm, you form coherent sentences; doesn't that require coherent thoughts to come before them?" I asked.

"Maybe," he grumbled, "but maybe they wouldn't be coherent to a human." He spoke the last word the way most people would speak the word cockroach.

Fine.

"Fine." I said maturely, blushing furiously and trying to step past him to storm away.

My hand was on the doorknob when he said, "Wait, miss Bella." It took me a minute before I decided that I should, in fact, turn around.

His eyes were cast down and to the side, and a darkness veiled his face. "Why do you ask me such things?"

"What things?" I asked, slightly indignant as he seemed to be suggesting that I was somehow in the wrong.

"You ask me what I'm thinking… if the chains hurt… what the slumber is like. Why?" He looked at me then with honest confusion, only slightly coloured by suspicion.

"I don't know… I…" I began, searching for an answer I wasn't sure I wanted to face. Why? Why did I care? More importantly now though, why did I feel the need to explain myself to my slave? Certainly he looked like a person and certainly I was having a moral dilemma over the way vampires were treated, but certainly as well, he was still my subordinate! What gall to ask such a question of me! "I do not believe it is your place to ask such questions of your mistress." I countered, a coldness I did not recognize stealing my voice.

Insulted and angry, he turned away. "Then I shall beg your pardon, Miss Bella."

At the pain and dejection in his voice, the coldness melted around my heart, and again, the inexplicable feelings of empathy for this slave, this Edward, emerged. I sighed as I turned once more to leave. "I'm sorry, Edward. I shouldn't… I just don't have an answer for you."

The door clicked softly behind me, and I tried not to wonder what else he would be doing today. Today, I had my own work to do.

Sector Nine of my father's company was an industrial endeavor that one had to think of only in monetary terms.

Since the discovery of Sangenite deep in the vaults of the Atlantic Ocean, a certain trade triangle began to emerge. Vampires, harvested from their last remaining free lands in the North, were shipped either to markets to be sold for private use, or corralled and lead to the bottom of the Ocean. The Sangenite they mined was then shipped to one of several refining and production centers around the world. One of these production centers, Sector Nine, was not far from our estate, though its proximity had nothing to do with my appointment to manage it. Management could have been done easily from anywhere on the Earth. The reason for which I was left in charge of Sector Nine was that it was the section of industry, that in my opinion, was furthest divorced from slave labor. Here, high valued production goods such as guns and other armaments were conceived and created from Sangenite, to keep humanity safe. That was our slogan anyways.

My father's company owned almost all aspects of this beautiful capitalist creation. He owned the mines in the Atlantic; he owned the transport company that brought the Sangenite to the production centers; he owned the production centers; he even owned a few of the retail franchises that distributed our products. What he did not own, was the vampire acquisition and distribution company. This belonged to the Blacks. Yes, my personal sun Jacob was the heir to the throne of the great slave monopoly of our time.

I tried not to think about that.

I also tried not to think about the cruel irony of vampires working in the mines.

They were ideal workers for the harvesting of Sangenite. They did not need expensive life support systems at the bottom of the ocean, there was no risk in them remaining there for days on end and they would never tire. There was no risk of human casualty in the accidents that inevitably occur in mining endeavors of every kind, and there would be no risk of the vampires stealing the valuable products they mined. Protective gloves were given to them for handling the raw material, but chains bound them and they were monitored from the surface: easily raised and disciplined if they did not perform satisfactorily.

The need, at least publicly, for me to own a vampire, was thus evident. It would seem strange, scandalous even, for me to feel any sort of aversion to their servitude. I did. But it was irrelevant. The political need was there, and I was nothing if not a politician.

Today, however, my task had little to do with politics. The press conference announcing my new position had not yet been made. My work today was far more administrative. Or, as I liked to think of it, administrivial. Because as critical as I knew they were, the bureaucratic nonsense was onerous and mostly it seemed that it was only the most trivial matters that were thrust before me. But soon I would have bigger fish to fry, to put it figuratively. I was ambitious, and my ambitions for this company were somewhat radical, but I know this economy like the back of my hand. If the rapid production and growth that we now enjoy continues, this corporation will collapse on itself, to the peril of everyone in our global capitalist society. Something would have to change soon if we were not to fall victim to the anarchy of overproduction. I knew this.

And I had a plan.


End file.
